THE daughter of an elderly West Ewell man who died from a head injury after falling out of a hospital bed has described the care he received as "not acceptable".

John Alexander, 78, died of a left-side brain haemorrhage he sustained in the fall at Epsom General Hospital on November 26 last year, an inquest at Woking Coroner's Court was told on Tuesday (August 20).

His death happened after pleas from concerned family members to put him on a bed with raisable sides went unheeded by hospital staff.

The retired sheet metal worker had been admitted two days earlier suffering from acute pain and difficulty swallowing, which doctors attributed to a chest infection.

His daughter, Louise Alexander, told deputy coroner Dr Karin Englehart that the family had asked medical staff on several occasions to ensure bed sides were in place prior to the fall.

She said: "My mum had said to the nurses 'you should put the bars up', because he was agitated.

"When he went from observation into the ward we asked again, the response we got from the nurses was 'we don't have enough beds on the ward to put him in one with bars'."

Wendy Cook, the ward's on-duty staff nurse at the time of the fall, explained that there were no cots available that night and, even if there had been, they would not have been able to fit one into Mr Alexander's room.

She also revealed that after being placed under neurological observation, Mr Alexander was discovered to be unresponsive at 7am - five hours after the fall - and a subsequent CT scan revealed an acute subdural haematoma.

She said: "I heard a loud bang at 2am, me and a staff nurse went in to see him.

"We found him lying on his left side beside the bed, he said he had been trying to get to the toilet.

"We assessed his movement to see if he had any fractures on his limbs, he would answer the questions we asked him and we noticed a haematoma above his left eye.

"My colleague did an observation while I called for a doctor. I told her he was muddled but had been like that earlier.

"I didn't mention he was on Warfarin at the time because I didn't know. I hadn't read his notes at that time."

Ms Cook went on to say that after Mr Alexander was put back in bed, chairs were placed around it to try and prevent him falling again.

The hospital admitted that no 'fall assesment' had taken place in the two days Mr Alexander was there and the possibility of moving him to a secure cot had not even been discussed by his treatment team.

And Jacqueline O'Neill, Epsom Hospital's head of education, insisted a full investigation had taken place and lessons had been learned as a result of Mr Alexander's death.

She said: "There was no assesment [of the likelihood he could fall], that should have been done and the recommendations suggested by the doctor after the fall were not undertaken.

"We have reviewed our training in document handling and the trust has obviously done an internal investigation into the two nurses who were on duty."

Dr Englehart closed the inquest, declaring that Mr Alexander's death was the result of an accident.

After the inquest, director of nursing at Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, Pippa Hart, apologised.

“On behalf of the trust, I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family and loved ones of Mr Alexander," she said.

“Mr Alexander should have had an assessment to determine the chance of him falling, and we apologise unreservedly that this did not happen.

“I expect each and every one of our patients to undergo a falls assessment when admitted, and if they are deemed at risk of falling and hurting themselves, they should be given appropriate additional support and care.

“This is a vital part of the care we provide to patients, particularly those who are elderly or those with mobility problems, and is something we monitor very closely.